Two people died allegedly after drinking rectified spirit in Madarganj upazila of Jamalpur district on Tuesday night. The deceased were identified as Hafizur Kasai, 75, of Tegharia Thonthoniya Para area and Md Ehsan, 35, son of late Amirul Islam of the same area. Two other people, who also drank rectified spirit, are currently undergoing treatment at Jamalpur General Hospital According to locals, they fell ill after drinking rectified spirit from a homeopathy pharmacy at Tegheria bazar. They were taken to Madarganj Upazila Health Complex where the on-duty doctors declared Hafizur and Ehsan dead around 11:00 pm. Upazila Nirbahi Officer(UNO) of Madarganj Ilishay Richil and Officer In-Charge(OC) of Madarganj police station Mahbubul Haque visited the bazar and collected samples of rectified spirit from three pharmacies. “The bodies of the deceased have been sent to Jamalpur General Hospital morgue for autopsy. Police are preparing for filling a case in this regard,” said the OC.

Manpower shortage is preventing commencement of services of the intensive coronary care unit (ICCU) at the 250-bed General Hospital set up five years ago, forcing patients to seek treatment elsewhere.